“Not all men are called to be hermits, but all men need enough silence and solitude in their lives to enable the deep inner voice of their own true self to be heard at least occasionally. When that inner voice is not heard, when man cannot attain to the spiritual peace that comes from being perfectly at one with his true self, his life is always miserable and exhausting. For he cannot go on happily for long unless he is in contact with the springs of spiritual life which are hidden in the depths of his own soul. If man is constantly exiled from his own home, locked out of his own spiritual solitude, he ceases to be a true person. He no longer lives as a man.” —Thomas Merton

They are the spiritual disciplines through which prophets as varied as Moses, John the Baptist, Jesus, Buddha, and Muhammad prepared for their ministries and received revelations that founded new religions.

They are the spiritual disciplines that have been praised by poets and philosophers as diverse as Plato, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, Montaigne, Rousseau, Goethe, Wordsworth, Byron, Shelley, Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, Muir, Tillich, and Camus (to name only a few).

They are the spiritual disciplines that allowed many of the world’s greatest leaders, from Ulysses S. Grant and Abraham Lincoln to Winston Churchill and Theodore Roosevelt, to make history defining decisions.

They are the spiritual disciplines of solitude and silence, and they are vitally important to the health of the soul (and of society).

They are also arguably the most intriguing and compelling of the spiritual disciplines, and yet also seem the hardest to come by in our crowded, noisy, modern world.

Silence and solitude can seem out of reach to the average man — the exclusive purview of the kind of religious ascetics and hermetic philosophers just mentioned, or a luxury that can be indulged only by those leaders who face choices freighted with heavy meaning and high stakes.

In truth, finding solitude and silence is possible even in the present age, without having to retreat to a cloister. And, far from being the privilege of the few, seeking these states is a responsibility of us all.

Today we will explain why that is, the way in which these spiritual disciplines are connected, and how both can be sought, and attained, by even the busiest of souls…

Dr. Steve Farrar continues his Landmines series with Session Nine – Rejecting the Authority of Christ and the Scriptures. He goes after a few things that have become popular among some Christians in recent times.

The video is below

We have made notes for our own use. We’re making them available below (in PDF Format) if you’d like to use them.

We recently ran across this song by Petra. It ties in quite well with the current series we’re highlighting, Landmines by Steve Farrar.

It is the song Mine Field.

Lyrics

Mine Field – by Petra
Words and music by Bob HartmanBased on Proverbs 3:6, 1 Peter 5:8, Matthew 16:24

Smell the burning powder?
There’s danger in the air
A voice from deep inside is telling you, ‘you must beware’
Then enemy is watching
Every step you take
To find his opportunity in every choice you make

And it’s no game
When someone lives without His grace
And who’s to blame
When it blows up in their face

It’s a mine field – you’d better follow Him through
God knows the way – you’d better stick like glue
It’s a mine field – better stay on His heels
’cause the enemy kills and the enemy steals
So keep your head down and keep you eyes peeled
’cause life is…
Life is a mine field

Think the grass is greener?
You’d better look around
Everywhere you look another casualty is found
The enemy is waiting
For you to start to run
Waiting like an itchy finger on a loaded gun

Some may feel
They can wander out too far
They may heal
But they may always wear the scar

Better leave the navigation to the One who knows the Way
He will bring illumination
He will light your path each day

It’s a mine field – better watch where you tread
Step off the path and you could end up dead
It’s a mine field – better stay on His heels
’cause the enemy kills and the enemy steals
So keep your head down and keep your eyes peeled
’cause life is…
Life is a mine field

One of our friends, Scott Morin from Empowering Ranch, will be conducting a retreat in September. It should be an amazing time of refreshing, growth, and adventure. For more information download this PDF file, and then contact Scott.